The Paralympics, which start next week, are on course to be the biggest in the event’s 52-year history, with more than 2.2 million tickets already sold — breaking the record set in Beijing four years ago.

For many of the thousands of competitors, their journey to the London Games has been a battle against adversity. Among them are five members of the British Armed Forces, who either lost limbs or suffered other serious injuries while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of them talks here to telegraph.co.uk.

As a foreign-born athlete competing for Britain in next week’s Paralympic Games, Derek Derenalagi is prepared for jibes that he is a “plastic Brit”.

But the 37 year-old has a much more apt description of himself — the “titanium Brit”.

The Fiji-born discus thrower will be competing on two artificial legs, the result of injuries suffered in a Taliban bomb blast while serving as a soldier in Afghanistan.

Derenalagi, a private in 2nd Bn The Mercian Regiment, who is in the “F57” category for athletes with spinal cord injuries and amputations, will take part in the men’s F57–58 discus on August 31 in the Olympic Stadium.

When he competes, he uses two seat belts to strap himself into a specially made throwing frame that prevents him from falling or injuring himself as he twists his body and puts all his power into throwing the discus. To steady himself, he must dig his stumps into the artificial legs, causing considerable pain.

But Pte Derenalagi — who won the Paralympic European Championships in his category in June with a throw of 41.41 metres (135ft 10in) — said: “I don’t see my disability as an obstacle.

"I’m just missing two legs. I’m not a plastic Brit. I’m a titanium Brit. I have sacrificed two limbs for this country. I think I have pretty much earned the right to represent it. And I am humbled and thankful to be selected.

“I will be looking forward to it, to making the nation proud.”

Pte Derenalagi suffered his injuries after the Land Rover he was in drove over an improvised explosive device (IED), during a patrol in Helmand province in July 2007. The explosion threw him 30 yards from the vehicle.

As he lay wounded, the devout Christian can remember praying: “Lord, whatever happens, I thank you for my life. But if you have a role for me in the future, to be an inspiration for others, let me live.”

He was taken back to Camp Bastion, but doctors there declared him dead, and his regiment was informed.

“They were cleaning my body, intending to put me in a body bag,” he said. “Then one of the medical staff noticed I had a very weak pulse. They changed their plans.”

While still at the Headley Court rehabilitation centre, near Leatherhead, in Surrey, he started getting help from Battle Back, the Ministry of Defence-led scheme, funded by the Royal British Legion and the charity Help For Heroes, which aims to get wounded service personnel involved in sport.

By the end of 2008 he was one of six servicemen attending a special Battle Back training camp in the US. Derenalagi, has been further helped by the Front Line to Start Line initiative, funded by Help for Heroes and the British Paralympic Association, which helps wounded Forces personnel represent Britain in Paralympic sport.

He said his recovery was also helped by his wife, Ana, a teacher, and 20-year-old daughter, also called Ana.

Pte Derenalagi is originally from the village of Nakavu in the west of Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu, but now lives in Bushey, Hertfordshire, and trains at the nearby Woodside Stadium in Watford and the Lee Valley athletics centre in Enfield.

“I am determined to inspire others,” he said. “I want to put a smile on someone’s face, especially someone who has lost a limb, who thinks they can’t do anything. To inspire someone like that would be more rewarding to me than £1 million, than anything.

“I am no superman. There have been low points,” he added. “But if I feel down, I just remind myself of those who didn’t make it home. And I’m complaining just because I’ve got two legs missing? It’s nothing.”